The end of January is nearing and it's been what I'd call a typical winter for the Midwest, at least as it used to be: cold and snowy. We had some measurable snow and lots of cold temperatures. Previous years we had warmer temperatures so having a "cold spell" has been different. But I remember growing up to lots of snow and cold, so maybe we are reverting back to what it had been. The nice thing is we have had quite a bit of sunshine. A lot of times we have little to no sun and the days seem especially gloomy and depressing. 

DH and I have continued working on finishing a room in the basement. Fortunately he is a handy type guy and I'm willing to try and learn new things. The advantage is we don't have outside stuff to do so we have time to work on it. I have called Menards "my home away from home" since we have been there a lot. Fortunately they have had what we needed. I wonder if home improvement stuff will see a huge increase in prices as both the hurricane victims and the wildfire victims start to rebuild -- the whole supply and demand scenario. 

One good thing about winter is I don't mind running the oven. I have been trying to bake different things. I saw a recipe for making English muffins and tried it. I always thought they were baked, but this recipe called for cooking them on top of the stove in a cast iron skillet. They were pretty good for my first attempt. We had homemade cheese and egg sandwiches that night with them and even with the price of eggs, a reasonably priced meal. 

I have continued crocheting and some loom knitting. On Facebook is a site called "Random Acts of Crochet Kindness USA" where people crochet a little thing, put it in a plastic bag with a note saying it is a free gift to make one's day and then leave these items and suggest people post a pic and where they found it. I live in a small town that has some of those little free libraries so I thought I'd crochet some bookmarks since I had some crochet thread. I have them crocheted and hope to get them distributed soon. 

Speaking of crochet, a friend of ours is a woodworker and quite talented. I teased him and said I bet he had never made a crochet hook and he said he hadn't and so he did. He made the handle a little bigger so it is easier to hold. Wasn't that super cool? He said he likes a challenge. So, I crocheted a small basket for him and put some Hershey kisses in it as a "thank you."

For my birthday, DH gave me Kristin Hannah's book, "The Women." Talk about a powerful book. I was little during the Viet Nam war, but have read a lot about it and how the vets were treated after they returned. In this, it was even worse because the lady nurses weren't considered "vets" although they went through a lot as much as the men. 

I currently am using 6 of those receipt apps. I figure it is free money. On three of them, we donate the money for our mortgage reduction for church. Granted, it isn't a ton, but we figure every little bit helps. I continue to look for digital coupons and sales at grocery stores. One of the grandsons thinks I'm funny to do this. He's 20 and I just smile and think, "Wait until you get on your own." I wrote some companies to get some coupons. I'm tired of a lot of them saying they don't send out coupons and to check our local paper. I learned the hard way that newspapers can buy different coupon packages and the local paper we had bought the cheapest ones which were basically ads to mail order stuff, hardly any useable coupons at all. But Celestial Teas and Land O'Lakes did send me some coupons which was generous of them. My husband is good about wanting to save money and he is happy that I want to find ways to continue to do so. 

Life remains busy here at "Hummingbird Hills." That's what my husband's late wife named the property. Each day brings lots of things to do and more things to discover and winter is a nice time to do different things.